Can your Ears be too Clean?

Too much cleaning can be bad for you. People around the world use a variety of things to clean their ears. Most people tend to use cotton buds or Q-tips, those things are causing your hearing problem. Experts state that when your ear is cleaned, the ecosystem of the ear is altered. Ears are small ecosystems that house a specific set of bacteria. But once the ear is cleaned, the bacterial makeup of the ear is greatly altered. The new ecosystem which has been created as a direct result of the ears being cleaned can lead to partial hearing loss.

A study that was recently conducted on 87 children found that all of them had developed swimmers ear, the syndrome that causes inflammation of the ear. Not only is the syndrome painful but can cause hearing loss. The main cause of the syndrome was due to the use of Q-tips. The syndrome is treatable, but the same cannot be said for frequent adult users, who have made cleaning ears a habit.

Earwax needs to be removed by the use of ear-drops or by a professional doctor or audiologist who knows how to perform ear-irrigation. When you use Q-tips, you’re disturbing the functioning of a well-oiled machine. Q-tips or whatever object you use to clean your ears can result in the earwax being pushed into the ear canal. The excess earwax in the ear canal can cause serious complications.

It should be noted that earwax is like a naturally produced Vaseline. Vaseline is essentially used for moisturizing the skin and allowing it to breathe instead of becoming dry and cracking up. The same can be said about earwax; there is a notion that if you remove all the earwax from the ear, your ear can stop functioning. Earwax is also anti-bacterial in nature, thereby cleaning the ear of dust and microbial activity.

People who have been around explosions will tell you that they at times hear a ringing or at times have zero balance. These are two common syndromes, tinnitus and vertigo. Do you know the second leading cause of tinnitus and vertigo? Cotton buds, yes those tiny sticks with cotton at the end can lead to the same effects as an explosion.

We’d like to conclude this article with one final thought. Earwax is supposed to be discharged naturally. But in most cases people remove earwax, thinking that they are keeping their ears clean. If anything they are causing a wax blockage that can lead to permanent damage to the eardrums.

If you still think you need to keep your ears clean, then visit a doctor. Let the professionals take over.